Top tip for career success: don't respond to emails when you're angry. Or a baby. Photograph: Margot Hartford/Alamy

Earlier this week Catherine Bingham wrote about her experience of returning to work after maternity leave. Hoping to be able to juggle both a new family and her job, she wound up taking voluntary redundancy and doubting whether employers really valued mothers.

It's estimated that over 50,000 women have lost their jobs because of discrimination against working parents. So what can you do to minimise the chance of this happening to you and ensure that your return to work is as straight-forward as possible?

Chris Martin, managing director of Talking Talent, says that it begins when you leave.

"Make sure you have the best handover possible. Make it clear to your manager what you've been working on up until that point, what the progression for that project looks like while you're away and what you expect to come back to on your return."

He also suggests drawing up a 100 day plan, "towards the end of your maternity leave make sure you sit down with your manager and plot out as clearly as possible what your first few months will look like. The more you know, the more you have in your control and this will result in you feeling more confident."

We asked Twitter for some suggestions on managing the return to work. We've featured some of the best below. Add yours in the comments or Tweet us @gdnwomenleaders